Delays in the Mars program do happen. MSL and its Curiosity rover had a delay of one launch window (18 months): http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/200

Delays in the Mars program do happen. MSL and its Curiosity rover had a delay of one launch window (18 months): http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/20081204-msl-launch-delayed-two-years.html http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/20081204-msl-laun... This is small compared to some other delays, of course. (Perhaps this forgetting illustrates the point of the article.)